# How do I lower humidity in humidor?



## z0diac

My humidity is running high. It's at 72-74%. Due to previous mold problem I would like to keep it at around 65%.

There is NO humidifier in there, no humidity packs, etc..

I tried emptying a bunch of salt into a couple small bowls and let them sit in there, but it's still at 74%. I've left the door open (it's a wineador) for a couple days, tried closing it with the salt in there, nothing works.

Anyone know of something I can put in there that will absorb the humidity?


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## Quietville

Dry silica kitty litter is what I hear, but wait for someone who knows from experience.


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## Fuzzy

This is what I learned from Puff members, since I live in an area that has high RH most of the year.

If you have cigars, get some tupperware or a cooler and put your stash in that, until your problem is resolved

Absolute must is, calibrate your hygrometer. Do not try to save time, doit by the Puff sticky.

While you are calibrating, check for leaky seals at the door. Look for any drain holes and at least tape them for the next step.

Once calibrated, place your hygro in your storage to get a baseline RH. This should take up to 24 hours.

If your rh is high, place a tray of dry kitty litter in you 'dor. Depending on the size of your dor, up to a couple pounds will not hurt. Let this rest and get stable, at least another 24 hours. This step may lower your rh to low.

While waiting for the stable rh, get yourself a spray bottle and fill it with *DISTILLED* water. Nothing else, or you ask for more mold.

Once you know where your rh is, to raise it, give the kitty litter a spritz, and let the rh settle. If it needs to go up more, spritz again and rest until stable.

If your humidity does not go down by the method above,you may need to dry the kitty litter in the oven for an hour or so at about 200 degrees.

This is the quick version of adjusting your RH. There are hundreds of pages on Puff dedicated to RH regulation and kitty litter. Do some reading, and searching.


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## CALIFORNIA KID

What is the environmental RH


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## socalocmatt

As mention dry KL will work fine. Really any two-way humidification device will work. The most common is some sort of silica beads. People use KL (kitty litter), Heartfelt beads (or some equal commercial version), or dry clay beads (HCM beads).


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## Snagged

My bet is that your hygrometer is inaccurate. What type of hygrometer do you use?


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## Big Bull

I for one would salt test the hygrometer regardless. Make sure you test it at a minimum 24 hours....I would actually do so for 36-48 hours to get the best possible reading. 

What kind of hygrometer do you use? Digital?

You should be testing analogs every 3 months and I would be testing the digital every 9 mo to a year. 

If you do indeed have humidity issues to lowwer I would use silica based non sented cat litter. It is the cheapest and quickes method.
You say you have no medium in there now at all? What were you using? Did you recently get a new shippment in? 
What is the ambient Rh in your area?

Just a few questions that need answering before we should start.


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## TonyBrooklyn

http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/vb/cigar-accessory-discussion/276966-kitty-litter-set-up.html

Kitty litter rocks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## At Game7

TonyBrooklyn said:


> http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/vb/cigar-accessory-discussion/276966-kitty-litter-set-up.html
> 
> Kitty litter rocks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


What he said. Kitty litter is like some sort of voodoo magic inside a humidor.


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## Wlai

For kitty litter, you can dry it out in the microwave, use a defrost type of setting so it cycles on and off, and then cool it down in the freezer. I got the tip from another thread, maybe even from Tony himself. Works like a charm and so much better than oven.


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## z0diac

Thanks everyone! Kitty litter it is.

RH in the house is just over 70%. Was up around 75% due to lots of rain lately. It's dropped down to 69% tonight so I have the humi (a wineador) door open.

I have 3 digital hygrometers. 2 read 73%, the other 77% (the other is known to be about 4 degrees high - I locked it into a tupperware with 69% pouches and it was showing 73% after 24hrs).

I always seal new hygrometers in a tupperware with my humidity pouches to see what the offset is.

I have Fridays off so I'll run down and grab some unscented kitty litter and closeup the wineador with that in it. Hopefully it will suck out some of the moisture. I have a bottle of 69% propylene glycol - I've heard it clogs up beads, but what about with KL ?


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## Snagged

PG will indeed plug up KL. So will tap water as it contains minerals. Use distilled water in any device you use to humidify.

With your ambient humidity that high, you'll never get your humidity down unless you use something like dry beads/KL. You could aslo try using a dehumidifier in the room that the humidor is in to reduce the ambient humidity. I'd have to go this route in addition to whatever else you decide to do. I can't imagine living in a house with a humidity that high, but I live in Florida and run my AC year round, so that takes care of the problem here.

Along the same lines, don't open your humidor any more than you have to. With ambient humidity that high, you just add moisture every time you open the box.

To solve this with beads/KL, you'll probably need to prepare a couple of bags of KL to use in rotation. Start by drying a bag and add it to your humidor. Keep the other in the freezer to dry it out. When your humidity normalizes to 65 or so, keep an eye on it. When it goes up, rotate out the old KL for the stuff from the freezer and freeze the bag that was previously in your humidor. You'll have to be careful when you do this because too much dry KL is going to make your humidity fall drastically. I have no idea how big your humidor is, but if you put a quart of dry KL in a 200 count humidor, your humidity is going to be 20% the next time you check it. So be prepared to adjust the amount of dry KL you use accordingly to remove the excess moisture while leaving enough moisture to provide the proper humidity. 

I don't know how extensive your cigar collection is, but I'd also consider keeping the bulk of my stash in a cooler or tuperware container (using KL to stabilize the humidity) that you keep sealed and don't open often. Keep your daily smokes in the humidor and restock as necessary from the cooler. Swings in humidity are not good for your cigars. If your house is drafty or you leave your windows open, the humidity is going to swing as the temperature outside changes. 

Be sure to update this thread when you resolve the problem. This is exactly the kind of helpful information that brought me to Puff in the first place. It would be interesting and helpful to others with the same problem to hear how things work out.

Mike


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## Herf N Turf

:doh:

I just don't get how people can randomly recommend cat litter when all the facts have not been gathered.

First of all, you don't mention what kind of media you're currently using.

Second, you don't mention what the environmental humidity is and how long the humidor(s) been acting up.

You also don't mention the size / volume we're talking about.

Without this information, it's really impossible to recommend anything.

Rather than randomly employing the willy-nilly, trial and error method, present all the necessary information and you'll get the right, specific solution.


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## TonyBrooklyn

Sorry Don i must disagree bro. It really doesn't matter what size it is or where it is, Silca gel Kitty Litter removes R/H over night. That what it does its a 
Desiccant - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Amazon.com: Peli Desiccant Silica Gel: Home Improvement
There are more expensive alternatives like the one i just posted. But nothing works faster cheaper better than plain old Kitty Litter at taking moisture away!


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## Herf N Turf

Nooo... you misunderstand me. I am NOT recommending against cat litter, nor stating that it can't absorb / contain (nothing can remove) moisture. If most definitely can! The questions are; a) does he _need _it? Based on volume, amount of moisture we're dealing with and most importantly, b) what he's using now! Ex: If he's using HF beads, he most definitely does not need it, but rather they're too moist and simply need to be dried. OTOH, if he's using a credo and PG, _dried _cat litter would solve his problems quickly.


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## z0diac

Herf N Turf said:


> :doh:
> 
> I just don't get how people can randomly recommend cat litter when all the facts have not been gathered.
> 
> First of all, you don't mention what kind of media you're currently using.
> 
> Second, you don't mention what the environmental humidity is and how long the humidor(s) been acting up.


???????????????????????????????????????????????????

I said it's a wineador and humidity was just over 70% and has now dropped to 69%.



> Rather than randomly employing the willy-nilly, trial and error method, present all the necessary information and you'll get the right, specific solution.


Again.... ??????????????? I'm not sure what thread you were reading but the facts you are asking for have been stated right on page 1 of this thread 

As for the amount, there's 4 25ct boxes, 2 10ct boxes, and about 20 single sticks in a cedar tray.


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## z0diac

Snagged said:


> I can't imagine living in a house with a humidity that high, but I live in Florida and run my AC year round, so that takes care of the problem here.


Yah, I'm in southern Ontario which has sweltering humidity during the summer. With the humidex temperatures went up to 52C this past summer, and we had a week straight in the 40s. The AC is auto-set year round to kick in at a certain temperature, but now that it's cooler it's not running, but the dampness of a lot of rain the last couple weeks has upped the humidity in the house. Plus the cigar collection is downstairs here in the basement which tends to be a few % more damp.

Luckily house humidity has gone down to 69% and humidity inside the wineador is showing 68% right now. Once it drops down to around 66% I'll add my 65% humidity pouches (and I have propylene glycol for the humidifiers).


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## Snagged

z0diac said:


> Yah, I'm in southern Ontario which has sweltering humidity during the summer. With the humidex temperatures went up to 52C this past summer, and we had a week straight in the 40s. The AC is auto-set year round to kick in at a certain temperature, but now that it's cooler it's not running, but the dampness of a lot of rain the last couple weeks has upped the humidity in the house. Plus the cigar collection is downstairs here in the basement which tends to be a few % more damp.
> 
> Luckily house humidity has gone down to 69% and humidity inside the wineador is showing 68% right now. Once it drops down to around 66% I'll add my 65% humidity pouches (and I have propylene glycol for the humidifiers).


Glad to hear things are getting down into your comfort zone.

If you've never tried beads/KL and you get sick of the yo-yoing...or if you're in the mood for a "willy-nilly" experiment...try some KL. It's a fairly small investment, and given what I know about your humidifying needs, I think you'd like it.

Best of luck,
Mike


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## TonyBrooklyn

The R/H in the northeast in my house has been 75% since the spring rains. One of the wettest if not the wettest years i can remember. Just dropped to the mid 60's last week cause the temps have been in the high 30's low 40's at night. With Kitty Litter i have no problem maintaining 59-63% R/h no matter what.


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